The Baynhams

Since we heard the news about the earthquake in Japan on Friday our family has felt sick to the stomach. Once again we see images of destruction, of death and of human suffering on our tv. This time it is more personal because my brother Joe is living in Tokyo with his family.

It took a while to make contact with him. They were the longest hours of our lives. The phone-lines and power were sporadically on and off. The messages we got were brief but they told us they were safe. Scared and confused but safe. After the initial danger of the quake was passed there were the aftershocks that woke their kids at night. The panic buying in the supermarket and the scare of the nuclear fallout from the damaged nuclear reactors in Fukushima. It didn't take long for them to decide that they wanted to get out of Japan and come home to Australia.

There were messages about flight numbers, then new flight numbers as their flight plans chopped and changed. At the airport many flights were being cancelled and at one point my brother said that the departure screen went blank and then put up messages to the effect that every flight was delayed indefinitely. Luckily this changed again and their flight did take off eventually.

I had no way to contact them except through Anne, Rhonda's mum who was waiting for them at Sydney airport. I rang Anne on my lunch-break in the hospital and was so hoping to hear that all was well. Anne didn't answer her phone. My 4 year old nephew did. It caught me by surprise and the tears welled up and I had a lump the size of an orange in my throat. I spoke to my brother and realised that not only had they landed but they had arrived in Toronto only minutes down the road from the hospital. I went from worry to elation in that short call and when I hung up it got the better of me and I burst into tears with relief, embarrassing in front of work colleagues but they understood under the circumstances.

We have plans to meet up tonight, I think they are in for some very big hugs...